Schools like to feel special and adcoms like to think that if they admit you, you will go. Both of those can really only be accomplished through the PS, unless you also submit an additional essay on that particular school (e.g. the Why Penn essay). I got into schools who (sorry for the bragging tone) probably should have rejected me since I was way above their numbers, which I attribute to including a paragraph at the end of my PS that was tailored for each school. I used the same general format, substituting the name of the school, the name of the journal I was interested in or clinic I wanted to do, and Professors whose work I admired. It doesn't take that long to do but it really makes a world of difference, IMO.

ETA: you can still have the PS about your experiences, but I would recommend adding a few sentences about how that particular school will help you capitalize on those experiences, translate them into a career, etc. Help the adcom picture you at their school and taking their classes. Anything you can do to make yourself a person rather than an application can only boost your chances.

I didn't tailor my narrative PS to the schools because it would have seemed very artificial, and I was worried about accidentally mixing up the school names! My cycle has gone well so far, so apparently it didn't hurt me.

Schools like to feel special and adcoms like to think that if they admit you, you will go. Both of those can really only be accomplished through the PS, unless you also submit an additional essay on that particular school (e.g. the Why Penn essay). I got into schools who (sorry for the bragging tone) probably should have rejected me since I was way above their numbers, which I attribute to including a paragraph at the end of my PS that was tailored for each school. I used the same general format, substituting the name of the school, the name of the journal I was interested in or clinic I wanted to do, and Professors whose work I admired. It doesn't take that long to do but it really makes a world of difference, IMO.

ETA: you can still have the PS about your experiences, but I would recommend adding a few sentences about how that particular school will help you capitalize on those experiences, translate them into a career, etc. Help the adcom picture you at their school and taking their classes. Anything you can do to make yourself a person rather than an application can only boost your chances.

Just for the record so the OP understands: this is contrary to what the 'admissions professionals' often recommend.

This has been gone over time and again. I'm just too lazy to look up the threads.

For the record, I feel very strongly that each PS should be tailored to each school, with a nice substantive paragraph about why each school fits your narrative in your PS. What about THAT school fits into the narrative you've developed in your PS? Journals/Faculty/Clinics/Location/Philosophy?!

I included such a paragraph in each of my PSes except those that asked for an additional "why penn" or "why michigan" etc. essay.

Most of my personal statements were very similar, but that was primarily because there were few things about the schools that made them stand out to me, aside from the obvious things like reputation. My application for WUSTL, however, I had to severely trim my "Why Washington University?" section to keep my personal statement under three pages. In my opinion, for any reach-school, it should be worth the time to customize the essay and to provide substantive reasons supporting why you want to attend.